Alistair Sim in a scene from Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (1951) Source:&nbsp Landmark Media/AlamyInspired by Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, Kunle Barker reflects on housings missing architectural component At a dinner party just before Christmas, a friend remarked that it was odd that, as a species, we have chosen the rather arbitrary marker of New Year to reflect on our lives. I accepted that no celestial events marked the New Year but disagreed that it was entirely arbitrary. We agreed to disagree, lest the red wine turned our debate into an argument. New Year offers an ideal moment for reflection; and this year my thoughts turned to housing.Over the Christmas break, I decided to introduce my daughters to Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. We were planning to watch a musical adaptation, so I thought it was the perfect time to introduce them to the story. As we sat watching Brian Desmond Hursts 1951 adaptation (the best, in my opinion), I couldnt help but reflect on the countrys current housing problems. I thought about how the crisis would shape my daughters experience of housing and how different that would be from my own.I imagined what it would be like if, instead of ghosts of Christmas, I was visited by ghosts of housing. What if I could travel through time and visit key moments in our housing history? Here are my musings.AdvertisementThe Ghost of Housing Past from the 1980sThe Ghost of Housing Past takes me to 1980, as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher finalised the Right to Buy Act. The average house price was 20,897 three times the average salary. Right to Buy expanded homeownership but sparked a decline in affordable housing, with no commitment to replace the sold properties. In the following 10 years, over a million council homes had been sold, while new construction plummeted by 80 per cent, from 88,540 in 1980 to just 17,870 in 1990.Private investors exploited the scheme by buying discounted properties from tenants unable to exercise their right to buy, accelerating the loss of social housing. This era marked a shift in government policy as the state stepped back from mass housebuilding. Thatchers policy, once celebrated, created the patient zero of todays housing crisis epidemic.The Ghost of Housing Present from the 2020sThe Ghost of Housing Present takes me to 2020, where the average house price is now nine times the average wage. Every government since 1980 has struggled to build enough affordable housing. Even under Labour affordable housing was neglected, with only 130 local authority homes built in 2004, the lowest number since the Second World War. Consecutive governments have relied too much on the open market and mechanisms like Section 106 to provide affordable housing.In 2024, rising interest rates and the cost-of-living crisis have exacerbated the struggle. Help to Buy has inflated house prices and benefited developers over buyers. The average cost of a flat in London is now 430,000, with many young people locked out of the market. In the 2020s, governments have built just 177,593 new homes a year on average. Renters face severe financial strain, with a third spending over half of their income on housing.The Ghost of Housing Future from the 2060sThe Ghost of Housing Future offers two contrasting visions. In one dystopian scenario, mega-corporations dominate the housing market, where the average house price exceeds 1 million and home ownership is a bedtime story told by grandparents. Renters spend over 80 per cent of their income on housing and homelessness is widespread, with thousands housed in makeshift developments. Originally meant to be temporary, these now litter the country and are monuments to an entirely broken housing system.AdvertisementIn a more optimistic future, bold government action taken from 2025 onwards transforms the housing landscape. Affordable social housing and rent controls ensure fairness, while innovations like community land trusts and tokenised ownership broaden access. Government initiatives manage to align the goals of the public and private sectors, allowing good architecture to thrive and produce sustainable, community-focused housing developments. This focus on placemaking fosters thriving communities that promote economic growth and social cohesion. Improvements in general wellbeing reduce the burden on the NHS and state, proving that investing in housing is both a social and economic necessity.Dickens aside, the housing challenges we face are clear. Our industry understands the built environment better than anyone and homes are perhaps the most important part of that. There is no silver bullet, but our industry can and must lead the way; we must make our voices heard in a coherent manner.Fixing this crisis will take decades and many of us may not see the full results in our lifetimes. But thats the point the homes we envisage, design and build today will outlast us all. Lets use architecture to unite government, developers, and landowners to take bold, decisive steps forward, because every step we take now is a leap forward for the future.Kunle Barker is a property expert, journalist and broadcaster2025-01-22Kunle Barkercomment and share